We are pleased to announce that we now have an “App” both for Apple and Android devices so that the McGill Office for Science and Society’s nifty and sometimes quirky science can always be at your fingertips. The Apps are free and can be downloaded here:
For Apple devices, download the app at: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/office-for-science-society/id779488353?mt=8

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER: Miracles are pretty rare events. Except on television’s Dr. Oz Show, where they appear with astonishing frequency. Oz of course doesn’t claim to raise the dead or part the Red Sea, but he does raise people’s hopes of parting with their flab. And he’s certainly not shy about flinging the word miracle about. But it seems miracles fade as quickly as they appear.

The year was 1982. "Food for Thought", a new and innovative course conceived by Drs. David Harpp, Joe Schwarcz & Ariel Fenster. Designed to provoke some thought, separate fact from fiction and of course, digest everything there is to know about food. And now, 17,000 students later, you too can take this course. FOR FREE. That's right. McGill presents its very-first MOOC (massive open online course), & the McGill Office for Science and Society (OSS) is up at bat. Are you ready for some Food for Thought?

Information is the key to life. We want to know what to eat, how to protect our environment, what risks to avoid and what to do if illness strikes. But when it comes to acquiring information, it is the best of times and the worst of times. It is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness. Newspapers, television, radio and of course the Internet bombard us with information at an unprecedented rate, but when it comes to scientific issues the quality of the information is variable.

The Redpath Museum now offers videoconferences to school groups of any grade or age level. Visit the Museum without having to take a field trip!
Choose from three presentations: Meet the Triceratops, Egyptian Life, or Quebec Biodiversity.
The sessions are streamed live, last one hour, and feature a museum educator in the Redpath Museum galleries.

Almost 40,000 people in the United States developed West Nile virus last year and 1,549 died because of it. Compare that to 1999, the first year the disease was seen in North America, when only 62 people were reported infected.

Edmonton—Graduate students in the Faculty of Engineering will have the opportunity to get the inside track on communicating with non-technical audiences and tech commercialization during the Faculty of Engineering Graduate Research Symposium.
Keynote speakers Joe Schwarcz and Peter Hackett will share their experiences and expertise with symposium attendees and volunteers.

How safe is your shampoo, sofa or shirt? Campaign will soon launch efforts to get ten major U.S. retailers to phase out potentially "toxic" products. Dr. Joe Schwarcz comments on when "toxic" really "toxic."

Dr. Joe Schwarcz sits down with NBC News' Andrea Canning to take a look at "hormone disruptors", chemicals potentially found in everyday objects that can affect our health. Question is, are they really something to worry about?
Watch it here.

Dr. Harriet Hall, also known as the SkepDoc, reviews Dr. Joe Schwarcz' latest book, "The Right Chemistry," and concludes that both him and his book do it just right.
To read the review, please click here.

A note from Dr. Joe Schwarcz:
After our November 26 debate Andre Saine and I agreed to ask each other questions that would be answered in writing and posted on our websites. Mine were ready a few days after the event; I have just received Andre’s. Because I had agreed to post his answers, I am doing so here with some trepidation. The reason is that there is some dangerous advice here about antibiotics and malaria prophylaxis, but I think our readers will see through this.

By Jane Brody, The New York Times
Let’s start the new year on scientifically sound footing by addressing some nutritional falsehoods that circulate widely in cyberspace, locker rooms, supermarkets and health food stores. As a result, millions of people are squandering hard-earned dollars on questionable, even hazardous foods and supplements.